The Impact of a Hero
by Thuiy
Summary: Shirou Emiya is not a complicated person. He wants to save people, and he is willing to sacrifice anything to do so. However, how will the companionship of a certain blonde shinobi change the perspective of the Counter Guardian to-be? Will Shirou's abilities help guide the troubled world he finds himself in to a brighter future?
1. Chapter 1

Rin had not been in a good way for a while. Ever since the Holy Grail War had ended, she had done her best to try to keep her promise to her servant Archer and prevent his stupidly heroic past self from being condemned to an eternity of mindless killing. She had known such a task was going to be difficult, but she was sure that because of how close she was to the red-haired idiot that she had a chance.

But now years later, she wasn't so sure about her odds. She had taken Shirou to the clock tower in an attempt to get him away from any obvious causes that he could throw himself recklessly at. At least here, there was a chance that he'd find something that he actually enjoyed in life other than saving others.

She let out a deep sigh. That was wishful thinking at best. Even after showing Shirou around England as much as she had she wasn't sure that anything had stuck. He had no obvious hobbies other than cooking, and she had caught him tracing weapons by himself in his room a few times. Rin looked up at the clouds. She was running out of ideas. Was it just an inevitable conclusion? Would Shirou become a Counter Guardian no matter what she did?

She shook her head of those thoughts. She had made a promise, dammit! And she'd do her best to see that promise through to the end!

Having reached the apartment that she shared with Shirou, Rin opened the door. "I'm home!" She announced.

"Ah, hello there Rin." A voice that was distinctly not Shirou's replied.

Rin paused in the midst of taking off her shoes and spun around, to see a sight that made her heart drop into her chest. Sitting at the table of her apartment was her master in the second true magic, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. The man had been kind enough to take her on after the Holy Grail War had concluded. Though he had always been tight-lipped as to why he had chosen her of all people. Her apprenticeship had been fairly standard so far, and so she was understandably concerned that the other shoe was about to drop.

You see, Zelretch, as he was more commonly known, was regarded widely as one of the most powerful magi to ever live. In addition, he was immortal, and constantly bored. Considering the fact that he was also a possessor of the second true magic, the operation of parallel worlds, made a normally fairly dangerous combination so much worse.

Zelretch, seeing her expression, started laughing heartily. "Oh, why the shocked face my apprentice? Can't your teacher stop by for a cup of tea every once in a while?" He asked, attempting to sound innocent.

His words seemed to shake Rin out of her shock. She glared at her teacher and grit her teeth. "What. Did. You. DO?!" She demanded.

Zelretch merely shrugged, not really frightened by Rin's anger. Having witnessed his apprentice through many parallel worlds, he had gotten used to her wrath by this point. "Why, whatever could you mean, Miss Tohsaka? What makes you assume that I've done anything?"

Rin's eyes darted around the apartment frantically, looking for something out of place. Doors turning into portals to other worlds, strange creatures wandering the hallways, hers or Shirou's possessions changing into…

That's when it hit her. "Shirou!" She shouted, rushing to the sword mage's room. She bursted through the doorway, only to find it empty of the boy that should have been there at that point in time.

"No, no no no no…." She repeated, upturning every square inch of the room as if Shirou would magically appear out of thin air. With tears flowing down her face, she clutched at thin air, trembling furiously. Her gaze met the door of her room, and she marched with her fists clenched tightly. She came across the kitchen to see her teacher smiling in amusement at her predicament.

"Where… Is he?!"

Zelretch chuckled, before chucking a manga at Rin. "Well, it's a world that pretty much follows this story." He said.

Rin looked at the cover. It read 'Naruto'. Rin had heard of the story in passing, but had never actually read it herself. She just stared blankly down at the cover, not really comprehending what was in front of her.

"Well, there's a few key differences… One character is a different genders, to make things more interesting you see. There's far too many worlds with those characters as it stands, this one was at least a bit different-"

"Why?" Rin asked simply. "As bad as you are, this is above and beyond what you normally do."

Zelretch shrugged. "Well, to be honest, that boy is one of my favorites to watch. You'd think someone with such a straightforward mentality would get boring after a while, but he really doesn't." He sighed. "And as much as it's respectable that you're trying to prevent him from becoming EMIYA, it's not working."

Rin stiffened at that. She knew that she wasn't making any real progress right now, but it wasn't that bad was it? She still had a chance? "Really?" She asked weakly. "So… After everything we've been through… He'll still become…"

Zelretch nodded his head at his apprentice. "Unfortunately, yes. I've seen enough worlds to know what will and won't prevent Shirou from becoming your old servant. This? This right here? It's not enough. He needs something else."

"Like what?"

Zelretch merely grinned. "Something to save. Something to protect. I just happened to send him somewhere where he has both."

Rin stared at Zelretch for a few moments, before resigning the fact that this was actually for the best. "Alright, you win. Just so you know though, I'm going to work my ass of to get to him."

Zelretch nodded. "I figured you'd say that. Just so you know, in order to give him this chance I had to basically recreate him to fit his world's standards, so he'll have a whole new lifetime of experiences by the time you get to him."

"What?!" The black-haired magus shouted. "How can you even do that?! You can't- You shouldn't- That's got nothing to do with the Second Magic!"

"Eh. I've got enough friends in so many worlds by this point that I can ask a favor from a magician of just about every true magic. I just sent him to one of my alternates and they handled it from there."

Rin calmed down at that explanation. It was entirely likely that Zelretch knew other wielders of the different true magics, so she supposed that it was entirely within his abilities to change Shirou to better fit the new world that he found himself in. She would accept it… For now.

"He's going to be alright though, right? You made sure that he'd get a good start to his new life?"

At this, Zelretch's smile turned distinctly mischievous. "Oh, don't worry. I made sure that his 'birth' into his new world was identical to his birth into this one."

Rin looked disgusted. "If he's fully conscious, being shoved out of a womb would be downright traumatic. He's got enough issues as it is!"

Zelretch shook his head, his grin remaining unchanging. "No, while that would be funny, that's not how the being known as 'Shirou Emiya' was 'born'" Zelretch said, adding helpful air quotes to help his apprentice get his meaning.

Rin was confused for a few moments before her eyes widened. "You didn't." She said.

"Oh, I did."

* * *

Like many nights, Shirou saw hell. He felt the flames flickering against his skin as he waded through the rubble. He heard the desperate screams for help, saw those crawling through the ruined buildings desperately doing something, anything to try to do something to survive.

And among it all, he merely walked, ignoring everything around him for the sake of surviving. This was the scene that Shirou remembered from his childhood, one that plagued his dreams as it seemed to be right now. He would walk, re-experiencing the pain of discarding everything that made him who he is as he abandoned others to their fate, before finally collapsing and being saved by Kiritsugu.

And yet, this was an unusual occurrence. Shirou was unusually lucid this time around, something that he didn't get the chance to experience often. In fact, Shirou couldn't remember the last time he had been in control of this particular dream. Shrugging, Shirou didn't question it. If he was going to have to go through this dream again, he was going to at least try to save some people while he does so. With that plan in mind, he braved the fire and smoke in order to change the outcome of his dream.

He made his way through the intense flames, only finding corpses. He paused momentarily to check the pulse of a few people laying on the ground, but none had any signs of life. The fire had already claimed them. However, that was soon to change.

The building that he had just entered was different then the others. The foreboding feeling that was constantly pressing down on him seemed strongest within, yet Shirou pressed on nevertheless. When he entered the building, the smoke made it hard to see at first. Yet Shirou continued on regardless, determined to scour everywhere he could for someone he could save. The building he was in looked as if it had been fairly tall, though it also appeared to be the epicenter of the whole fire in the first place.

That was odd to Shirou, as from what he recalled the fire was started by the holy grail's taint. Given that, how was there _anything_ at the center, let alone the foundation of a building? However, that line of reasoning was immediately cut off when he heard a nearby sound: one of a child crying softly. Shirou immediately dashed towards the first sign of life he had detected since the start of his dream.

After pushing past a burning board that attempted to block his path through a partially-disintegrated doorframe, Shirou managed to find the source of the tears: a small, pig-tailed blond child. She was wearing a strange orange jumpsuit, and was currently curled up into a ball, clutching her knees as she sobbed into them. The walls of the room she was in was completely blackened, and there were ashes scattered towards the edges of the room itself.

Shirou grabbed the girl's shoulder, causing her to flinch and recoil away from Shirou's touch. As she turned towards Shirou, she revealed a very unusual face to him. With the whisker marks and blue eyes, she would have been considered an exceptionally cute child if it wasn't ruined by the streaks of tears running down her face. She was staring at Shirou with panic in her eyes, desperately crab walking away from him until she finally hit a wall.

Shirou hesitated for a split second, but once he remembered that he was in the middle of a giant inferno he started moving towards the panicked girl. As he came within an arm's reach, the girl put her arms in front of her face as if to shield herself while closing her eyes as hard as she could, obviously expecting Shirou to hurt her in some way. Knowing that the small girl in front of him would react poorly to any attempt to forcefully take her away from the burning ruin they were in, Shirou merely held out his hand and waited.

Slowly, the girl seemed to realize that the strange red-haired boy wasn't going to hurt her. She gradually opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes eventually widening further than they were normally, before they started watering again.

That was all the warning that Shirou had before the girl launched herself at him, clutching his sides in a painful hug as she sobbed hysterically into his chest. While taken by surprise at first, Shirou eventually wrapped his arms around the girl, attempting to comfort her. After a while, the girl's body stopped shaking violently, and Shirou noticed that she had fallen asleep. Nodding in satisfaction, Shirou attempted to shift the girl onto his back so that he could lift her in a fireman's carry, but found that even unconscious the girl wouldn't let him go. Maneuvering her carefully, Shirou was luckily able to get her into a bridal carry and trudge through the fire.

Shirou was determined to save someone this time around, even if it was only a dream. Reinforcing his body, Shirou sprinted through the fire as fast as possible.

* * *

The Third Hokage was panicking. He had just got out of a meeting with his advisors to talk about the Uchiha issue when he felt the hateful presence of the Kyuubi permeate through the city. He had made his way towards the source only to see a truly monstrous inferno burning through a large portion of Konoha. He had immediately ordered all available shinobi to start putting out the fire with all due haste.

Unfortunately, this fire did not appear to be an ordinary fire. While water techniques were preventing the spread of the fire, it appeared to do nothing to extinguish the fire that was there. Seeing this only caused Hiruzen to panic further. Naruko Uzumaki, the current Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi lived at the center of it. He had initially expected that the seal had failed and the Kyuubi had been released, but no one had seen it manifest yet.

However, should Naruko die within the fire, then the Kyuubi would truly be released, and in that situation, the village would almost certainly be destroyed. It was taking all the shinobi that the Hidden Leaf had on hand just to prevent the fire from spreading and killing even more citizens, so he could only spare a handful of ninja to go into the fire to attempt to rescue any survivors. However, the Hokage knew that Naruko's apartment was near the center of the fire and it was unlikely that his ninja would be able to save her in time.

Even though he hadn't prepared a successor yet, the Hokage was prepared to risk his life to save Naruko, someone who he considered his surrogate granddaughter. He was prepared to risk his life to save the people of Konoha. He was-

"Sir! Sir, someone's coming out of the fire!" One of his ANBU reported to him.

The Hokage spun and looked where the shinobi was pointing towards. His eyes widened as he saw a small child, likely around Naruko's age, was sprinting out of the fire at speeds that would be impressive for even a genin, carrying a small body in his arms.

Once the youth breached the perimeter of the fire, the Hokage could see him more clearly. It was a young boy, one with soot-covered red hair, piercing golden eyes, and a pained expression on his face. His clothes were burned and blackened by the fire, and as the boy slowed down, his legs started wobbling from the exertion he had just gone through. However, what attracted the old man's attention more than anything was what he was carrying in his small arms.

"Naruko!" Hiruzen shouted, sprinting towards the young boy. When he arrived, he held out his arms for the boy to give him his burden.

The boy only seemed to smile sheepishly before moving Naruko's unconscious body towards the Hokage, only to be unable to do so due to Naruko's incredible grip on his torso. Given the sight, Hiruzen could only grin. Even with the village burning around him, the sight of Naruko safe and sound did so much to ease his mind that he allowed himself a moment of levity.

That moment ended when the boy's legs started wobbling out of control. Before the third Hokage could react the red-haired child started falling forwards, only to spin around so that he would land underneath Naruko, cushioning her from the fall. He immediately rushed to the young child's side, only to see his eyes slowly close.

After checking both children's pulses, the Hokage nodded in satisfaction and turned to an ANBU that had stayed by his side, not willing to leave the leader of the village undefended amidst the confusion.

"Take these two to the hospital immediately. I will stay here to help prevent the fire from spreading further." He commanded.

The ANBU merely nodded his head and scooped up the two children in his arms. There were other ANBU nearby that would ensure the Hokage was safe. He sprinted to the hospital as fast as he could, determined to make it there and back in time to assist with the fire suppression effort.

* * *

Hours passed, and eventually the fire subsided, having run out of fuel to continue its existence. The only reason why it had managed to last so long under the use of so many Jutsu was because of the lingering effect the Kyuubi's chakra had on the fire, which provided enough fuel for the fire to sustain itself.

That was the cause of the council meeting the third Hokage found himself in at that moment. No one quite knew the exact circumstances of the fire itself, but the Kyuubi's involvement was undeniable. Which meant that in the end, only one person could be held responsible: Naruko Uzumaki, the container of the Kyuubi.

"Hiruzen, thousands of people just lost their lives! At least a tenth of Konoha was just razed to the ground! At least consider the alternative!"

These impassioned words came from an elderly man covered in bandages, so much in fact that it covered half his face. He was an advisor to the Hokage, and had suggested a solution to their current problem. The only issue is that the solution in question was being met with mixed feelings at the moment. The fact anyone was even considering it could be considered surprising, however the one person who could approve the motion that Danzo wanted to pass was stalwart on his refusal.

"I said no, Danzo. My decision is final." The Sandaime responded, only barely able to resist the urge to kill his old teammate.

"Lord Hokage, I know that you are close to the Jinchuuriki, but she has shown tonight that she cannot handle the power that she contains!" Homura, one of his other trusted advisors argued.

"That may very well be, but even if I wanted to follow through with your plan, we have absolutely no way of re-sealing the Kyuubi in a new container, nor a suitable container to put it in afterwards. All that would be achieved by extracting the Kyuubi would be the death of a child who hasn't even had the training to mould Chakra yet."

That's right, Danzo's plan in the wake of the fire that took out so many people was to move the Kyuubi no Kitsune to another child. Hiruzen was obviously against this idea, as he was quite fond of Naruko and any attempt to extract or otherwise move the demon fox would end up killing his surrogate granddaughter in the process.

Danzo shook his head. "Not true Hiruzen. Ever since the last time we were attacked by the Kyuubi, I have been prepared for just such a circumstance. I am confident that I could create a seal that would hold the Kyuubi in a new subject. I also am aware of at least three children within Konoha with exceptionally large Chakra coils, enough that they shouldn't perish from containing the Kyuubi."

As the other members of the meeting started murmuring among themselves, Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. That seemed way too convenient for Danzo, even if he normally prepared for almost every occasion. This was just too much information for Danzo to happen to have on his hand at all times for a 'just in case' type of plan. Did he know that this would happen. The old Hokage shook his head of such thoughts. He couldn't act without enough evidence, not against one of his trusted advisors.

A deep sigh managed to break through the various noises in the room. "How troublesome." Said a scarred man. The man in question had dark hair tied into a spiky ponytail behind his head, and was wearing a typical jounin vest. This was Shikaku Nara, the current jonin commander, head of the Nara clan, and altogether one of the smartest shinobi in the world.

He rested his chin on the table in front of himself and closed his eyes, almost as if he was about to fall asleep. "Tonight has been far too much of a drag, and I'd really rather not do that again. You're all missing an important thought."

Hiruzen perked up at that. Was he truly missing a piece to this puzzle? "Oh? Do tell Shikaku. I would appreciate your council on this manner."

Unnoticed to everyone in the room, Danzo's expression darkened significantly at Hiruzen's words. However, because no one noticed it Shikaku continued on with his analysis. "Well, it's pretty simple. Honestly, I don't know why it wasn't Danzo's first thought…" He murmured, cracking an eye in Danzo's direction. He stared Danzo in the eye for a few moments before shrugging unconcerned.

"Eh. Whatever. What I'm trying to get at is… This whole thing feels like sabotage to me." He explained.

That got more than a few people to perk up. Many hadn't wanted to kill a child in cold blood like Danzo had been suggesting, but in the wake of such a terrible disaster many were tired and wanted to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. They were shinobi, and as such were very used to making the hard decisions however, any option that sounded more likely was something that most in the room would grasp on for dear life.

The Hokage himself nodded in agreement at Shikaku's words. "Yes… I believe you might have a point there, Jonin Commander. While the Kyuubi is most certainly powerful, it has never been recorded manifesting its power as anything but pure Chakra, unlike other tailed beasts." Hiruzen mused. "In addition, it would take a significant amount of the fox's Chakra to magnify any fire that Naruko should encounter in her apartment. We would have been able to feel the Chakra long before the fire in that case. No, the Kyuubi amplified a powerful fire Jutsu, likely in an attempt to kill its container in the monstrous sea of fire we saw this night."

Danzo nodded slowly. "I suppose you are correct Hiruzen." He seemed reluctant to admit that, but continued on anyways. "In that case, we must ensure that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is guarded at all times."

Hiruzen nodded, finally agreeing with something that Danzo had said that night. "Yes, I do believe that you are correct. Very well. I will assign a constant ANBU surveillance of Naruko Uzumaki. I believe that we can call the meeting here. I thank all of you for assisting Konoha in this time of crisis, and I wish you all a good night."

After that, the clan heads and civilian representatives exited the room, with the sole exception of Danzo and Hiruzen himself.

"Did you notice, Hiruzen?"

The man in question could only nod solemnly. "Tonight, at the fire… No Uchiha came to aid us, and Fugaku neglected to show up to the meeting tonight. I knew the situation with them was bad, but to willingly ignore their fellow Konoha brothers and sisters?"

The third Hokage could only sigh. "We need to talk with them. See if there's something we can do to make this right."

Danzo remained silent. He had his own plans regarding the Uchiha. He personally believed that they were too unstable, and that they could pose a legitimate threat to Konoha's security. The Uchiha would perish soon, and even though tonight's plan failed, he was certain that his plan for that problem clan would come to fruition soon.

* * *

Shirou started waking up to the sound of unfamiliar voices. He cracked his eyes and noticed that he was flat on his back, staring straight up at a tiled white room. Glancing around the room he was in, he noticed that it looked like a typical hospital room. He was lying back on a medical bed, and a quick glance underneath the blanket he had covering him revealed that he was wearing a hospital gown… And that he had somehow de-aged about a decade and a half.

That caught him by surprise for a second. Hesitating, Shirou pinched himself just to make sure that he wasn't just dreaming. Considering the dream he'd had the previous night, he wasn't going to discard the possibility just yet.

However, he had yet to wake up. Therefore Shirou had to assume that the de-aging was either a reality or an illusion that he would not be able to break out of. However, Shirou believed it was the prior. Why? Well, for whatever reason Zelretch, Rin's teacher, loved using Shirou as a test subject. It would be just like him to de-age Shirou while trying something out, and Rin wanted to make sure he was okay and took him to the hospital.

However, upon looking around the room more, Shirou was given quite the shock when he looked at the only other hospital bed in the room. It housed a familiar mop of blonde hair, which in and of itself wasn't very concerning… If it wasn't for the face with the whisker marks attached to said hair.

She was real? Granted, Shirou hadn't completely ruled out the possibility of an illusion or dream, but he would give it even odds at this point. However, if the girl was real…

Shirou paled. That fire… It held a hatred comparable to the fire that was caused by the taint of the Holy Grail. What on Earth could possess such hatred, and furthermore why was it loosed upon the world?! How many people died in that fire?

More importantly… How many did he fail to save this time?

He looked at the girl sleeping soundly on the hospital bed next to his. At least… At least he had saved one. That was more than the first fire. He supposed in this way that he could sympathize somewhat with his fire, even if he knew that he hadn't felt anywhere near the same relief that Kiritsugu had felt when he had dugged him out of the ashes of the fourth Holy Grail War.

Suddenly, Shirou was startled by the sound of the door opening. A doctor stepped through the opening, followed shortly by an old man with flowing robes and a strange red hat with the kanji for 'fire' on it.

"Oh! I see that you're awake now. That's good. Tell me young man, would you mind telling us your name? We're trying to reunite families that had been separated by the fire." The doctor said.

Shirou nodded his head. In his current state, the doctor likely thought that he had family in the area affected by the fire.

"My name is Shirou Emiya. Thank you for taking care of me." He said, sitting up only to bow his head at the two in the doorway. While Shirou didn't know exactly where he was, he could tell that the man in the robes was important based on the way that the doctor seemed to subtly differ to him. In addition, Shirou's 'smell' for magecraft was going haywire around both men. The doctor was a strange scent, but the man in the robes smelled very similar to Rin, who was known as an 'average one', or a mage capable of wielding all elements equally. That meant that not only were the two people in front of him capable of magecraft, but the older one was likely extremely proficient, given his status as an average one and also his apparent age.

Yes, Shirou truly believed that, if these two had wanted to kill him there wasn't much that he could have done about it while unconscious. They meant him no harm.

The doctor looked at the older man in questioning, to which the man merely gave a tired sigh before rubbing his forehead.

"Well young Shirou." The old man started. "I have a few questions for you, if you wouldn't mind?"

Shirou shook his head in response. These people had taken care of him after the fire, the least he could do was answer a few questions.

"Well, my first question is where exactly you learned how to use Chakra?" The robed man asked. "You pulled off quite the feat in that fire, something far more advanced than someone your age should be capable of."

Shirou only cocked his head in confusion. Chakra? Did he mean Prana? As he was about to correct the old man, that was when it all clicked. He had realized how close to the truth he had gotten with his 'Zelretch experiment gone wrong' theory. It was entirely likely that the old vampire had decided to send him to another world on a whim. It had never happened before, but it didn't seem too outlandish for the Wizard Marshall to do.

Mentally filing that shocking revelation for later, Shirou responded to the question with genuine confusion.

"Chakra? What's that?"

The old man's eyebrows shot up, and the doctor looked even more concerned than before. Shirou supposed that if this 'Chakra' was this world's equivalent to Prana and the people in front of him had identified Shirou as a mage, then what he had just said would seem strange.

"Truly? You don't know what Chakra is?" The doctor ask. When Shirou shook his head, the doctor looked to the man in the robes. "Well, I suppose that it isn't entirely out of the question that his Chakra just responded to the feelings of panic he likely had. Maybe that's why he was moving so fast?"

The man the doctor was talking to rubbed his chin in thought. "Yes, I suppose that is possible." He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, it merely seemed as if the boy was a prodigy, figuring out such an advanced technique so early in life."

The doctor frowned at the old man. "That 'advanced technique' nearly killed the boy from Chakra exhaustion!" The doctor admonished. "That is not the kind of thing a kid should be practicing!"

The old man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and gave the doctor an awkward smile before turning to Shirou again.

"Well, now that that question is out of the way, is there anything you could tell us about that fire? If you can tell us what cause it, we would much appreciate any information you can give us. You and Naruko here are the only two survivors who were within the inferno itself."

Shirou shook his head again. "No, I'm sorry. I don't recall anything before the fire." Which was true, Shirou had absolutely no idea how he currently got there. Shirou knew that he was being selective with his truthfulness, but considering the fact that Shirou was likely in a parallel world, he thought it would be prudent to give as little information about himself as possible.

Hiruzen merely nodded, however the doctor seemed to latch onto something. "I'm sorry, did you say you remember NOTHING before the fire?" The man asked, alarmed by Shirou's previous response.

Shirou nodded, which caused the older man to recoil in shock. "Amnesia?" He muttered to himself.

The doctor nodded. "Yes, it is somewhat rare, but in extremely traumatic circumstances the brain will sometimes shut down. While on occasion these people can recover their own memories, I'm afraid I've never experienced a case with someone this young. Considering the fact that Shirou's brain is still developing, it is entirely possible that he will permanently lose his old memories."

The doctor then turned to the boy he was talking about. "Tell me young man, what is the first thing you remember?"

Shirou scratched the top of his head. He felt bad lying to these people, but telling them that he was actually about a decade and a half older than he appeared to be, and that he was from a world was not likely to go over well.

"Well, I remember waking up in the fire… I remember seeing a lot of people dying… And then I thought that I had to save someone, anyone." He paused, not because he had to steady himself, but because he had to figure out how to explain his speed without giving away that he was using reinforcement. Using it poorly for that matter, as he had not taken into account the fact that he had regressed in age by many, many years, changing his body structure and how much Prana he could send into his body parts.

"I remember running… Looking back now, I was definitely moving faster than normal…" He muttered to himself, before shaking his head. "I couldn't find anyone alive, everyone I tried to save was dead before I got there. Then I heard someone crying, so I followed the sound until I came to her." Shirou said, pointing at the girl on the other bed.

"She seemed afraid of me at first, but after she realized that I wasn't trying to hurt her, she hugged me and wouldn't let me go, luckily though she fell asleep a few moments later, so I chose a random direction and started running that way. Once I reached the edge of the fire, I saw you approaching. I tried to hand her to you, but she was still holding on to me too tightly. After that, I felt very lightheaded, so I collapsed." Shirou finished explaining.

The old man's eyes softened at Shirou's words, and he seemed to age years before Shirou's eyes. The doctor however, looked somewhat concerned. He turned to the man in the robes.

"Lord Third, he clearly needs-" The doctor started, only to be cut off by a wave from the old man.

"I know. I'll get Inoichi on it." The man, who was apparently someone extremely important replied.

"I only have one more question for you Shirou, that is, so long as you are willing to answer it." Shirou only offered a nod in response.

"What is it that you wish to do now? You have no memory, and while I hate to say it, you are likely now an orphan if you weren't one already. Normally, this would be a pretty simple case. Having no known living relatives, you would simply be sent to an orphanage and put up for adoption, however…"

At this, the old man turned to look at the young girl on the other hospital bed. He walked to her side, making absolutely no noise as he did so. He smiled down at the young girl, and Shirou noticed that the smile was tainted by regret and guilt. If it hadn't been for those underlying emotions, Shirou would have thought that the old man was looking at the young girl the way a grandfather would at a granddaughter.

"This young lady's name is Naruko. Naruko Uzumaki. And she has had quite the difficult life. Though I fear… That her life is about to become much more complicated." At this, he turned to Shirou. "You helped her in her hour of need, and I can only imagine that when she wakes up she will want to meet you. Because of certain… Circumstances, Naruko cannot live within an orphanage, despite being an orphan herself. Because of this, I must ask you a favor of my own."

The Hokage took in a deep breath, obviously having a hard time composing himself. "I would ask you to live with her, rather than go to an orphanage. She needs someone who will care about her, a friend her own age that will help her when she is at her worst. Please… As the only person on this planet who looks at her as family, please help my granddaughter where I cannot."

Shirou was silent as he pondered the heartfelt request that the old man in front of him just made. Inwardly, he was conflicted. This was not his world, and he had… Well, Rin was probably waiting for him back in his old world. However, the thing that was preventing him from simply waiting for Rin to get him back was simple… He didn't really want to return. Living with Rin at the clock tower, while productive in the fact that he was learning more about magic, wasn't what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He wanted to help people, he wanted to go out there and chase his dream… To become a hero of justice. And yet… Rin very obviously didn't want that.

Rin had seen the end of the road if Shirou continued down the path of his dream. She had seen the terrifying ending that was Counter Guardian EMIYA, the Archer of the fifth Holy Grail War. She had seen the hill of swords that her servant had died on, witnessed him being betrayed by those who couldn't understand him. She had promised Archer at the end of the war that she would prevent Shirou from travelling down his path. But yet, Shirou had to admit to himself as much as he liked Rin himself, and as much as he wanted to make her happy… He couldn't. As Rin had once told him, he was distorted. He could not live a normal life, not after all he had been through. And as such, even knowing that it would kill Rin inside, Shirou was only a few days from simply walking out of her life forever.

Because of that, he was not as devastated as he maybe should have been about being in a new world. At least here, Rin wouldn't chase him around the world in an attempt to drag him back to the clock tower and give him a thorough verbal lashing.

So then why was Shirou conflicted if he wasn't hoping to return to his old world? Well, the answer was fairly simple. Even in a small form, Shirou was certain that he could still save people with the abilities that he had. He was confident that he could go out into the world right this very moment and manage to protect those who needed protecting.

And yet… Looking at the blonde child that he had saved from the fire, that was where Shirou was conflicted. He had saved her from a fire that distinctly resembled the one that he had barely survived in his childhood. More so, based on her reaction, she truly didn't expect anyone to come by and rescue her. This girl had no one. She was an orphan, much like himself, who according to the old man, had no real friends her age.

Shirou wasn't an idiot, even though some of his actions would probably lead people to that conclusion. He knew that not everyone had a monster to slay, an enemy to fight, a foe to protect them from. Sometimes in order to save someone, one merely needed to be their support, to aid them in their everyday life.

But yet, was the life of one worth more than the potential several that Shirou could save on his own? Such a question was difficult for Shirou, as he had once vowed that in situations such as this, that he would always choose to save both. And yet in this situation, he could not think of a situation where he could save both Naruko and save others. Closing his eyes to steel his emotions, Shirou opened his mouth, about to tell the old man in front of him that he would be unable to perform the favor asked of him, when he heard a groan.

All attention in the room turned to Naruko's bed, as the girl in question slowly opened her eyes. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Naruko sat up and immediately her eyes were drawn to the man in the robes. Upon recognizing him, her eyes widened in joy and she gained a grin that stretched across her face, so wide and happy that it practically stretched from ear to ear.

"Jiji!" She shouted in excitement.

The old man's smile made him look like he'd suddenly regained decades of life in a mere moment. "Hello Naruko. It is good to see you are well."

Naruko nodded enthusiastically, before she perked up, looking like she just remembered something. "Hey old man, what happened? I remember some weird guy in a mask, then a fire… Then…" She took on a classic 'thinking pose' with her arms crossed and eyes closed, before seemingly remembering another important detail.

"Oh yeah! That red haired boy! What happened to him?" She asked, suddenly sounding concerned.

The old man in question looked at his granddaughter in mirth, before he started chuckling to himself. Obviously Naruko wasn't happy with this, as she had asked what she considered a very important question.

"Eh! Jiji, my question isn't funny, ya know! What happened to him?!" She demanded.

Naruko's grandfather merely shook his head before he replied to her question. "I apologize Naruko. He is right here." He said, absently pointing a single finger at Shirou, who gave a small wave at Naruko when her gaze landed on him.

Naruko's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the boy who saved her from the fire. Her cheeks blushed a light pink as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, both in embarrassment at not noticing him earlier and at how she'd acted back during the fire.

"Oh, uh… Hi." Naruko chuckled awkwardly.

"Hello." He replied.

The old man, seeing Naruko struggling at this moment decided to step in and help. "This young man's name is Shirou Emiya. He is the wonderful young man who managed to pull you out of the fire." He paused, thinking about his next words, before he continued. "I believe that the two of you will get along quite well."

Naruko stared at Shirou, the grin on her face telling everyone in the room that she was exceptionally happy, yet to Shirou it was a different story.

Her expression, her smile, her attempts to appear confident… It was fake. It was all fake. As someone who did his best to fake human emotion for most of his life, one who classified himself as a 'faker', Shirou could tell that something was wrong. Something about the way that she was acting told Shirou that if he made the wrong move here, he could potentially ruin her life.

And yet again, he was brought back to his conundrum. Should he save the one life, and likely commit himself to many years of normal life, or should he attempt to go out into the world and make a difference? Save one or save many?

After learning what he could about Kiritsugu, his late father, Shirou knew that the man's answer would have been easy: he would abandon Naruko, as he would be able to save many more if he were to not be tied down to one location. However, while Shirou respected his father, he was also aware that his father's way of living eventually lead to his inability to fulfill the very dream that Shirou inherited.

And so, Shirou smiled at Naruko and said the words that would change the fate of the entire elemental nations, one that would send repercussions that would be felt by all throughout the world.

"I would like that." He said.

The brilliant, and more importantly genuine smile that he received in return told him he had made the right choice.

After leaving the two children to familiarize themselves with each other, Hiruzen walked down the hallway with the doctor that he had entered that room with.

* * *

"You wanted to tell me something. About young Shirou." Hiruzen stated.

The doctor nodded in response. "Yes sir. First of all, while his speed coming out of the fire was impressive, Mr. Emiya's overall Chakra levels are slightly above average for his age at best."

Hiruzen merely nodded. "Indicating that he is unlikely to have been trained. Go on."

"However, there was something strange regarding the young boy. He appeared to have some form of self-healing. Not quite on the level of a Jinchuuriki, but still impressive in and of itself."

The third Hokage rubbed his chin in thought. "Perhaps the first of a civilian lineage to develop a bloodline? It is certainly within the realm of possibility."

The doctor merely nodded positively in response. "That is my current theory. Regardless, should the boy join the Shinobi forces later in life, it will doubtless be a boon."

The Hokage nodded. "Very well. Thank you for your report. I will take my leave if there is nothing else then."

The doctor gave a quick salute and wandered down the hallway.

After the doctor left, Hiruzen narrowed his eyes in anger. Naruko had mentioned a strange man in a mask. When Hiruzen had pressed the issue, that was all that Naruko could remember. That meant that some foreign ANBU had found out about Naruko's Jinchuuriki status and attempted to release the Kyuubi on Konoha. He would have to amp up Naruko's protection detail after tonight, and he would do his damndest to make sure that whoever was responsible was caught for their part in tonight's tragedy.

Anyone who targeted his surrogate granddaughter did not deserve to live in his eyes after all.

* * *

In a dark and quiet room, a sole man sat at a desk, his hands locked underneath his chin as he pondered the events of that night. The man in question was heavily bandaged on the right side of his face, and had a scowl that many in the village assumed was permanently stitched to his face.

This man's name was Danzo Shimura. Advisor of the Hokage, commander of the secret ROOT force of Konoha, and a man who was very dissatisfied with how the night ended up.

It had been a few months since Naruko Uzumaki had been allowed to live on her own, and once Hiruzen had eased off on the ANBU assigned to watch the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki Danzo had felt that it was the time to strike. While he wasn't particularly interested in acquiring such a high-profile target, Danzo knew that he had to put the safety of Konoha first. The entire reason why the Kyuubi was released to ride roughshod over Konoha so many years ago was because the Kyuubi was stored in a female container. It was a proven fact that a Jinchuuriki's seal weakens considerably during childbirth, and Danzo could not risk history repeating itself with the young Uzumaki.

As such, Danzo wanted desperately to remove the Kyuubi from Naruko before it became an issue, however something must have gone wrong that night, for his ROOT shinobi never reported back, and a good tenth of the city was destroyed in a colossal fire.

And now, Hiruzen was going to be more paranoid than ever before. One wrong move, and Danzo could risk exposing his entire operation to his old teammate. No, such a risk was unacceptable. He would merely have to keep an eye on Naruko Uzumaki in the future, especially if she were to harbor any interest in producing offspring.

Danzo shook his head. He needed to prioritize. While a vital matter, observing the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki could wait. After all, the Uchiha were currently a much greater immediate threat…

 **A/N:**

 **So… After not writing for several months on either of my currently active stories, I finally post and it's… A new story.**

 **The reason for that's a little simple: this is a submission to Alex Kellar's 'Breaking The Fate' contest! This contest involves inserting Shirou Emiya into a character's tragic backstory before it can become tragic, and so I chose Naruko Uzumaki.**

… **What's that you say? It looks like Naruko's story is already tragic before Shirou even shows up? Well, yeah… I guess… Kinda. Look, the challenge said 'long before ninja school', so I chose this, when Naruko and Shirou are *mumble mumble* years old.**

 **Anyways, some quick things that I feel like I need to get out of the way here before I go.**

 **Is this a Harem?**

 **I'm only going to say this once. NO! Firstly, even though I enjoy a harem fic every once in a while, I don't feel comfortable with writing one just yet. So even though both Fate/Stay Night and Naruto are fandoms that are littered with Harems, it's not happening here.**

 **How much are you gonna follow the storyline?**

 **Well, honestly there won't be much changes until the Chunin exams. Sorry! Not too much I want to change until then.**

 **Will Rin be in this story?**

 **No, that was just an amusing scene that I thought would add a bit of depth to Shirou's being there outside of 'Zelretch is bored'.**

 **How long will this fic be / When will this story end?**

 **Well, considering the deadline is the first of February, I've got a bit of time. My plan is to finish the entire story within that time frame. Keep in mind that after the Chunin exams I'm not really gonna be following the plot structure of Naruto too much. That being said, this story's probably gonna be in the ballpark of 150,000 words. That unfortunately means that my other stories will not be worked on for the foreseeable future.**

 **What's up with the Uchiha? Wasn't that After Sasuke was in the academy?**

 **Well… Yes, however I'm kinda fudging with dates here. Honestly it was a bit of an oversight on my part, but by the time I realized what I'd done (literally five minutes before I wrote this) I realized that in the long run, it wasn't gonna make much of a difference, so I kept it in. Hope that doesn't bother anyone too much!**

 **That's about all I have for you! I hope that I'll have another chapter next week, but that's probably wishful thinking. Hope you all enjoy reading this!**


	2. Chapter 2

After being released with a clean bill of health, Shirou was assigned to a different part of the hospital, where a mental health expert would apparently be walking through Shirou's mind to see if he could bring to the surface any of Shirou's old memories.

And so, after bidding Naruko (who had yet to be released from the hospital) goodbye, Shirou started making his way towards his assigned room. Needless to say, Shirou was somewhat concerned about the fact that someone would find out that he was from another world. Not terribly concerned though, honestly. After all, the only true reason why the magus had yet to tell anyone in the first place was because of the lack of evidence that he had for the fact. If someone managed to figure it out on their own, he wasn't really going to fight it.

That being said, while this was a different world, Shirou had no idea how they would react to his possession of a reality marble. Shirou knew that back in his old world he had to keep his greatest ability under wraps, for fear of being strapped to a table and used as an experiment. Were the people of this world just as ruthless as the magi of his last one? Shirou didn't truly think so, or at least he didn't believe that the official-looking man from the night prior was anywhere near as ruthless. After all, if a magus back in his own world had a granddaughter, Shirou did not imagine that most of them would truly care about her wellbeing, they would be more concerned about their ability to continue his legacy.

So Shirou was willing to give these people the benefit of the doubt. Besides which, even if Shirou were to be exposed and these people turned out to be hostile, then he was somewhat confident that he could fight his way out.

Those thoughts left his mind once he reached his room though. Shirou politely knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A voice said from within.

Upon entering, Shirou saw a small room, reminiscent of a psychiatrist's room back in his world. Inside was a small couch that Shirou expected he was going to sit on. Behind a small desk was a tall blonde man, hunched over a document in concentration. Upon noticing Shirou opening the door, the man in question looked up.

"Ah, you must be Shirou Emiya, yes? Please, take a seat." He said, gesturing to the couch next to his desk. After Shirou sat on the couch, the man behind the desk continued. "My name is Inoichi Yamanaka, and at the Hokage's request I will be going into your mind today to see if there's any chance I can recover your memories. However, before I can get started, I require your explicit consent to perform the technique that will allow me to help you today. Are you willing to allow me to go into your memories to attempt to find the ones that you have lost?"

Shirou merely nodded. While still somewhat troubling that Inoichi would be able to hear his thoughts, but if this is what was required of him, then he would acquiesce. The man before him took that as Shirou's acceptance, and got out from behind his desk to take a seat across from Shirou. After he was seated and comfortable, he started… Making shapes with his hands?

While somewhat strange, Shirou put it down to the differences between the magecraft of his own world and this one. Regardless, the man finished the chain of hand motions, and then… Paused. After a few moments, Inoichi seemed… Confused. He went through the same hand motions once more, only for his confusion to turn to shock. He got up from his seat, his wide eyes still staring at Shirou.

"Excuse me for a minute, young man. I need to go talk to someone." Inoichi said, before he exited out the room, walking briskly out into the hallway, allowing the door to swing shut behind him.

Shirou stared at the door following Inoichi's departure. He was… Not sure if what had just happened was a good thing or not, but for now he was willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt… And prepared to trace a Noble Phantasm at a moment's notice.

* * *

The Yamanaka clan head in question was walking with purpose towards the Hokage, whom he had been informed was still within the walls of the hospital. He had vital information about his most recent patient that his leader needed to know, especially since the Hokage believed that the boy in question would become a great addition to Konoha's forces one day.

It wasn't particularly hard to locate the leader of the village, as he was still talking to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Inoichi was still somewhat wary of the girl. While he certainly believed the current theory that an outside force had done something to partially release the Kyuubi onto the village, it still mean that the girl was a massive vulnerability for the village at present. That being said, she was only a few years away from entering the academy, and hopefully once that occurred, she would be trained to better control the beast's power.

Upon arriving at the girl's room, Inoichi knocked on the door. After a few moments of waiting, the Hokage himself answered the door. Looking past his shoulder, he saw a young child with blonde hair stretch to look over the Hokage, only to lower her head in disappointment.

 _Ah yes._ Inoichi thought to himself. _They've become friends over the past day or so._

And it was true. In the time that Shirou and Naruko had been hospitalized together, and while Inoichi had not been made aware of the particulars, the third Hokage seemed very pleased that the two got along so well.

He gave the Hokage a quick bow. "Sir." He said. "A development has occurred in the process of assisting the patient that you just sent my way. I wish to privately discuss it with you in order to determine how to proceed."

The third Hokage narrowed his eyes in thought, before gesturing inside of the room. "Please, come in. I do not believe there are any spare rooms at the moment, and considering who this is about, I believe Naruko should be made aware."

Inoichi grimaced at that comment, but nevertheless nodded. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Hey old man, what's going on? Who's this guy?" Naruko asked.

"Naruko, I want to introduce you to Inoichi Yamanaka. He's the head of the Yamanaka clan, and I tasked him with seeing if he could recover young Shirou's memories. He apparently has an update for me on that task."

Naruko's eyes widened, and she immediately straightened up in her bed, obviously eager to hear what Inoichi had to say. She had been told that Shirou had next to no memories remaining, to the point where he couldn't even remember when his birthday was! Considering the fact that Shirou promised to be Naruko's first friend, she was obviously interested in whatever attempts the old man was using to get them back.

Inoichi nodded. "Yes sir. I have… Troubling news. Upon attempting a mind-walk on Shirou Emiya, I found that my technique was simply… Blocked."

The Hokage's expression changed to one of shock. That was… Unheard of, actually. Certainly, it could be possible for one to block off a Yamanaka mind technique, though given the fact that the intricacies of the technique were a closely-guarded secret, Hiruzen could not even begin to guess as to how it would be done.

"I see… Tell me, Inoichi. What does that mean for the boy?"

Inoichi rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Well, to start with… Because I can't enter his mind, I will be incapable of curing his amnesia." He started, which immediately caused Naruko to droop in disappointment. "Outside of that? Well…"

Inoichi seemed to debate on the subject for a while, before sighing. "Lord Hokage, I cannot begin to provide specific evidence without hinting at the nature of my clan's techniques. However, I can tell you one thing for certain: that boy will not be able to mould Chakra the same way a normal shinobi would."

The Hokage frowned. "I see…" He muttered. "I must admit, after having seen the boy sprinting out of the fire, subconsciously using Chakra to enhance his body… I had assumed that we had a prodigy on our hands." He rubbed his chin in thought. "However, with an inability to use Chakra, I doubt he could ever become a shinobi."

This only seemed to depress Naruko further. She knew that she would be heading to the ninja academy soon, and if Shirou couldn't join her… Well, she would be lonely. The third Hokage saw the depressed look on Naruko's face, and knew exactly what she was thinking. He had no idea how to make it better. As a shinobi, Naruko would have very little interaction with civilians in general, and as such would likely hardly ever run into Shirou during or after her academy years. Still, the short time that she would spend with Shirou would likely be kept with her for the rest of her life.

"Well…" Inoichi said. "I wouldn't put it that way exactly." He said, gaining the attention of the other two in the room. "While it would certainly be a challenge, I can say with certainty that Shirou still has access to Chakra. He should be capable of Chakra control techniques, and if he were to truly be driven enough, he could likely become a fearsome ninja without relying on ninjutsu. Might Guy could train the boy, as he is an accomplished ninja who has gotten quite far without relying on such skills."

The Hokage and Naruko both looked relieved. "Ah, it seems I misinterpreted you Inoichi. I apologize. However, I agree with your assessment of Shirou's future as a ninja. Please return him here. I believe Naruko is about to be discharged, and I wish to walk the two to their new home together."

Naruko's eyes lit up with glee at the Hokage's words. She and Shirou had already been informed that they were going to live together, and Naruko couldn't wait! She and Shirou would get to hang out all day, and go to all the playgrounds that she'd wanted to play on… But with a friend this time!

As Naruko got lost in her plans for future fun, the Yamanaka clan head excused himself from the room, quickly returning to his office. He pondered the ramifications of his inability to access Shirou's mind. His family's secret technique latched onto the spiritual energy of a Chakra system, and used that connection to delve into the target's mind. The issue here was that Inoichi was capable of attaching himself to Shirou's Chakra, but was incapable of following the spiritual energy to his mind. For some reason, when Inoichi tried, it felt like he was trying to push through a wall.

While at first Inoichi assumed that this meant there was only a small trickle of spiritual energy that could reach Shirou's mind, that proved to not be the case, as Inoichi looked through pathway after pathway and all of them led to the wall that enclosed Shirou's mind. Because of this, it seemed unlikely that Shirou would be able to use any ninjutsu, as all ninjutsu required the mixing of physical and spiritual energy, and Shirou would unlikely be capable of manipulating the spiritual energy that he has, given the wall that disconnects it from his mind.

That being said, Shirou was obviously capable of manipulating the physical energy in order to enhance his physical capabilities, which likely meant that Shirou could still use his Chakra in some way, shape or form, leading Inoichi to believe that Shirou could likely still be capable of using Chakra control techniques, as those did not truly involve mixing the two types together.

Truly, while it was unfortunate that the young boy would not be able to mould chakra like a normal shinobi would, the fact that he was unconsciously able to mold what little chakra he had to augment his abilities at such a young age indicated that he would be a force to reckon with in the future. The Yamanaka clan head only wished that he would be able to recover Shirou's memories as well.

He eventually went back into his office, about to perform one of least favorite duties as a medical professional… Informing a patient that he couldn't help them.

The young boy in question was staring at the door when Inoichi walked in, and just like before, Inoichi was somewhat disturbed by the lack of emotion that he received from those unyielding golden orbs. That state of calmness was not a state of emotions someone Shirou's age should possess. Perhaps it was a side effect of amnesia. After all, cases of children Shirou's age losing their memories were fairly rare for Inoichi to deal with.

"Thank you for being patient Mr. Emiya, I have unfortunately only bad news to give you." this information caused Shirou to stiffen slightly in his seat.

"Let me start with the first diagnosis: I cannot heal your amnesia. This is due to the second diagnosis I have for you. Unfortunately, due to issues that I cannot explain to you, you will be unable to mould Chakra in the same way an ordinary shinobi would be expected to, making you incapable of using most techniques. I apologize that I cannot help you more, however after consultation with the Hokage we have agreed that the possibility of you entering the shinobi forces is still high. Do you have any questions I can answer for you?" Inoichi said.

Shirou shook his head. The man had answered almost all questions that Shirou had. The man had all but confirmed that he could not access Shirou's memories to find out that the boy in question was from another world. In addition, he had confirmed that Chakra was a mystical energy, similar to Prana. While he had been told by the Hokage that he would be given the basics of Chakra at the academy, he had already come to the conclusion that it was at least similar to Prana.

Which was TERRIFYING.

After a quick use of structural analysis on himself, Shirou had realized that Zelretch had done more than simply de-aging him. Previously Shirou possessed twenty seven magic circuits of above-average quality. Now he had significantly more circuits that all flowed through three hundred and sixty one points. What kind of world did he end up in where this amount of Prana was considered normal?!

Regardless, he had no other questions regarding his own health. The structural analysis that he ran on his own body had in fact informed him that outside of his reduced capabilities as a result of his age, he was in perfect health.

"Very well. I had expected to have you here longer, but you were only admitted to my care to attempt to cure your amnesia. I would recommend seeing a certified therapist at some point, however that is entirely up to you and the Hokage, who has legally become your guardian. If you will wait there just a few moments longer before you go please." Inoichi said, walking behind his desk.

He shuffled through a few drawers before pulling out a form and quickly scribbled a few notes on the paper. He then folded it up and put it in an envelope before handing it to Shirou.

"Here. Please return to the room you were in before and hand this to the Hokage. It contains the diagnosis that I gave you as well as my recommendation for mental help."

Shirou graciously took the letter, before bowing and leaving the office.

Inoichi however, stared at the door for a few moments longer. Shirou was an anomaly, and while Inoichi would love to figure out the specifics of how the young boy's Chakra system worked, or even include more of a report on it to his Hokage. However, if Inoichi's guess was correct, then the boy possessed a bloodline. This would be a good thing, if it weren't for one simple problem… The Clan Restoration Act.

The act itself dictated that any individual who was the first or last of a clan with a recognized bloodline limit would be required to have enough children to restart the clan. For males, some considered it a dream come true, as it was a legal way to marry multiple women. However, this was merely what was on the surface. In reality, the individual in question would basically be under house arrest for the rest of his life in order to ensure that the bloodline in question would be able to create a prosperous clan and that the parent who possessed the bloodline would be able to figure out enough bloodline techniques to pass on to their children. It reduced the person in question to a simple breeding machine, not even truly human. The act in question had never been put in practice, but it had come dangerously close with the existence of Naruko Uzumaki. It was an especially dangerous situation, as the Hokage wasn't allowed to even be involved with the final decision. It was a law that was strictly put in place to take a hard decision out of the hands of the Hokage for the good of the village, since very few Hokage would be willing to condemn anyone to the Clan Restoration Act.

However, given Naruko's status as a jinchuuriki, it was declared that she was far too valuable as a military asset to be confined to the village. That being said however, Inoichi didn't even want anyone to get a whiff of the idea that Shirou might possess a bloodline so that he would be spared that fate. He would allow Shirou to grow into his own person rather than have a life forced on him.

* * *

Shortly after Shirou returned to his original room, Naruko was cleared for discharge from the hospital. Because of that, the Hokage suggested that they hold off the discussion of mental help until later.

Which led them to where they were now. The Hokage was personally escorting Naruko and Shirou through the streets of Konoha. Shirou could see that many people were getting out of their way, obviously intimidated by the Hokage in their midst.

Shirou still had yet to get a definite answer on how the village itself was run, but from the impression that he got from Naruko, he doubted that there was any form of elected government. It was likely a monarchy or a dictatorship given that the Hokage himself had admitted he had veto power over almost every major decision regarding the village. It was somewhat a bitter pill to swallow for Shirou, given the fact that almost ever monarchy and dictatorship in his world ended in tragedy.

However, he would withhold judgement for the moment. It wasn't his world, and he didn't know any history here. For all he knew, the system of government could work better here than it ever would back in his home world.

The Hokage and Naruko got into a small conversation between the two, and Shirou couldn't help but smile. Shirou had learned already that Naruko's past was not a good one, but seeing her interact with the Hokage actually helped Shirou accept the system of government that the village used. After all, if there was one person in the village with veto power, the man taking the time out of his day to make sure his granddaughter was alright was not a bad choice in Shirou's mind.

Eventually, the trio arrived at a small apartment building. Upon reaching the top floor, Shirou immediately noticed that there were only two doors, as opposed to the four doors on the floors that they had walked by previously. They were lead by the Hokage to the door on the right side of the staircase and the Hokage pulled a key out from within his cloak and unlocked the front door. He held it open, and the two children walked into their new home.

It was extremely spacious, with a large furnished living area. There were hallways to the left and right, though there weren't many windows. However, the detail that Shirou quickly picked up on was the fairly large kitchen that had an open countertop that was connected to the dining room, which in itself was open to the living room. Shirou was impressed by what he could see within the kitchen itself, and he already knew that he would be spending most of his time there.

"Well, this is to be your new home you two. Please feel free to look around. I've already arranged for furniture to be delivered, however you currently have little food and you'll need to purchase new clothes." The man explained.

Shirou lifted an eyebrow in question at the old man, while Naruko spun around to face him, eyes wide in shock.

"What?! Old man, why don't we have any food?!" She asked, panicking at her grandfather figure's words.

The man in question merely chuckled, raising his hands to calm her down. "It's alright Naruko. There's something else that I haven't told you. You see, because you were targeted by an enemy shinobi, we cannot afford to leave the two of you unguarded."

At those words, Shirou's expression hardened. He remembered that Naruko had said she had been attacked by a masked man before the fire, though he wasn't sure if the masked man had started the fire or not. Regardless, Naruko was important enough for a fully grown trained ninja to target an innocent child, and Shirou would be damned if he would allow them to do that again.

He would have to keep a careful eye on the girl in question, and be prepared to fight at a moment's notice. However, it was good to hear that the Hokage also had a solution.

"While ideally I would assign a member of ANBU or one of Konoha's jounins, I'm afraid that we have lost much of our forces over the last few years, and we require most of them in the field. However, I do have one of my most promising Chunin who will be living across from you. Take a few moments to acquaint yourself with your new house. She'll be by to pick you up in a few moments to get food and clothes." The Hokage said.

"But what about you jiji? Can't you just come with us to get some food?" Naruko asked, not really caring about clothes one way or the other. After all, ramen was far more important than clothes, and she'd never worn much more than her orange jumper anyways.

The Hokage shook his head and released a deep sigh. "Unfortunately not Naruko. After the fire, I've been immensely busy. I will visit you when I have the time, however that may not happen for several weeks. I'm sorry." And he truly did sound it.

Naruko seemed saddened by that revelation. From what Shirou had managed to infer, there were very few people who were a consistent bright spot in her life, and the Hokage was one of them. However, the Hokage was obviously almost always busy as the leader of the village. Hoping to console the despairing girl, he put his hand on her shoulder. While not particularly well versed in helping people feel better, he knew that letting the girl know that he was there would go a long way.

It almost backfired, as Naruko jumped in shock at the sudden contact, before whipping her head to look at Shirou with panicked eyes. However, upon realizing what was happening, she gave Shirou that same brilliant smile that she had given him back when he had first said that he was going to live with her.

Seeing the scene before him, the Hokage couldn't help but give his own smile in response. He had hoped that Shirou's involvement in Naruko's life would greatly improve it, and seeing the evidence in front of him here made him feel validated in his decision.

Nodding his head, the Hokage interrupted the two children's moment. "Regrettably, I must go now. Enjoy yourselves, this apartment is yours now. I'll leave the specifics to you and your assigned chuunin, however please don't leave the apartment until she gets here. After the fire, I just need to make sure you're both safe."

Naruko reluctantly agreed, since she wanted to go out and play with Shirou at all the places she had wanted to go to before. However, the old man wanted her to wait, so she could wait since he asked. She respected the man that she viewed as a grandfather enough to be patient for a while. Besides, she's got a new place to look around in!

"C'mon Shirou! Let's check this place out!" She shouted, grabbing the hand that was still rested on her shoulder and using it to pull Shirou down the hallway with her.

Shirou's panicked expression as Naruko forcefully dragged him through their new apartment was enough to get one last chuckle out of the Hokage before he left the door and down the staircase. However, once he had left the building his expression became much more thoughtful.

You see, as much as he had put forth a persona that implied everything was okay… That was quite obviously far from the truth. The issue that the Hokage most definitely did not want the two children to know about though related directly to Shirou.

While he had been relatively amicable with the doctor that had initially diagnosed Shirou, the doctor himself had not recorded the fact that Shirou could possess a bloodline. The both of them did not want the idea to even have a chance of escaping the hospital, for even a hint could negatively affect Shirou's life. The CRA was something that Hiruzen had learned the hard way was not something that anyone should have to go through. And considering the fact that Shirou had managed to resist Inoichi's mind walking technique, he was more sure than ever that Shirou had a new bloodline that would qualify for the CRA.

Considering the fact that Shirou was greatly helping out Naruko, Hiruzen would make sure, using every tool at his disposal that he would prevent Shirou from suffering that fate. He was sure that Shirou's bloodline would get out one day… But there was nothing he could really do about that. As much as he wanted to actively prevent Shirou from the CRA, it was against the law for him to do so and resisting said law could see him removed from his position and tried as a traitor, and Hiruzen knew that such an outcome would end up changing nothing anyways.

The third Hokage paused in his tracks. _Well… That's an idea._ He thought to himself.

It was risky. It relied on a few key factors, and it outright required Shirou to become an exceptional shinobi at a young age… But it would work.

With a smile, the Hokage kept walking down the road. Delighting in the fact that he at least had a plan for Shirou's future, even if it wasn't a great one. He could hopefully expand on the plan itself and improve Shirou's odds even further.

* * *

About half an hour later, after tirelessly exploring almost every inch of the apartment that they now owned, Shirou and Naruko heard a knock on the door. Naruko took off at a run towards the door, with Shirou exasperatedly shaking his head behind her.

Naruko swung the door wide open. "You're late! We've been here forever!" She said, before she even saw who was at the door.

Standing there, her fist still extended as if she was about to knock again, was a woman with long flowing black hair, wearing a typical chunin vest with unusual red eyes. She looked taken aback by Naruko's sudden appearance before shaking it off a moment later. She smiled at the two children before her, though inwardly she was very nervous.

"Hello there. You must be Shirou and Naruko. My name is Kurenai Yuhi, and I'll be your neighbor from here on out." She explained.

The young woman in question was extremely nervous. While she wasn't informed much about Shirou, she had been informed about why she was on protection detail. She had no idea about the kyuubi jinchuuriki before her assignment, as she was too young to be told about Naruko's condition when it first happened, and the information was only freely given to jounins.

However, after the fire that had occured a week ago, she had become even more nervous. She had no idea about Naruko as a person, but the power of a jinchuuriki basically made the young girl a ticking time bomb in her eyes, and she was tasked with the daunting task of making sure that bomb didn't explode.

Shirou smiled at the young woman and bowed slightly to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Yuhi. Thank you for taking care of us."

However, before the chunin could respond, Naruko had already bolted past her. "C'mon guys! We've got to go! We're wasting time!" She shouted as she sprinted down the stairs.

Kurenai's eyes widened in panic before running off down the stairs after Naruko. Sighing, Shirou closed the door behind him before locking the door with the key that the Hokage had left for them on the counter. Then he took off down the stairs after the other two.

Soon the trio were walking down the road. Naruko was pouting, since Kurenai had managed to catch up to the young girl and forced her to follow her and Shirou to a grocery store. However, as they walked towards the nearby grocery store, Shirou noticed something odd. While before when they were walking around the city with the Hokage, Shirou simply assumed that the passerby were getting out of the way due to being intimidated by their esteemed leader.

However, given the fact that the people were still ignoring their group, Shirou could only come to the conclusion that there was something else with either him or Naruko that these people were terrified of. However, since they were entering the grocery store only moments later, Shirou put such thoughts to the side, as deciding what to eat for the week would require all of his focus if he were to make good meals for himself, Naruko, and potentially Kurenai if she ends up staying over at their apartment as much as Taiga did.

Shirou quickly took over the shopping trip after they entered the grocery store, picking out ingredients for recipes that he would keep them for at least a week. Luckily Kurenai had seemed more amused by Shirou's insistence on picking out the food more than anything else, and she hadn't spoken up to get Shirou to stop.

"Ugh! This is taking FOREVER!" Naruko shouted, her head hanging in depression as she followed behind Shirou and Kurenai.

To be honest, Shirou had expected Naruko to break down far earlier. As it stood, he had almost got everything that he wanted. So in the interest of preventing a scene within the grocery store, Shirou decided to give Naruko something that she might want.

"Well Naruko, if you want I could make you something. What's your favorite food?" He asked his new roommate.

Those were apparently the correct words to say, as Naruko instantly perked up, her eyes almost sparkling in excitement. "RAMEN!" She shouted, causing the scene that Shirou very much did not want to cause. "Can you make Ramen? Can you Shirou? Can you?"

Shirou looked around the store nervously, giving a sheepish smile at all the people whose attention was caught by Naruko's voice. He then looked at the food that he had gotten so far before nodding at Naruko. "Yes, I believe so. I'll have to get a few more things, but it should still be within the budget that Ms. Yuhi gave us."

Naruko pumped a fist in the air in triumph. "Awesome! Come on Shirou, hurry up and get what you need so that we can have ramen!"

Shirou smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. While some might have taken her attitude towards him as rude, he had already gathered that Naruko might be even more socially awkward than he was… Which was quite the accomplishment really. However, Kurenai frowned at Naruko's words, obviously not having realized that about Naruko just yet but deciding to not say anything.

Soon, they exited the grocery store with plenty of bags between the three of them. Naruko insisted on holding the bags that held the Ramen ingredients, while Shirou insisted on holding far more bags than the other two did.

After arriving back in the apartment building and putting away groceries, Naruko turned to Shirou. "So how long is it gonna take you to make the ramen Shirou? I'm starving! All that food in the hospital was terrible!"

Shirou smiled apologetically, but it was Kurenai who decided to speak up first. "Apologies Ms. Uzumaki, but we still have yet to get you and Shirou clothing today." She explained. "We can come back and eat afterwards."

"Ugh!" Naruko groaned. "C'mon, can't we just eat first? Shopping is so boring!"

Kurenai shook her head negatively at Naruko's question. "No, it's still too early for dinner. You'll just be hungry again in a few hours if we eat now. Besides, it will be good for you to get some new clothes."

Naruko looks down at her orange jumper before glaring at Kurenai. "Oi, what's wrong with my clothes?!"

Kurenai merely pinched her brows in frustration. This girl… Was going to be hard to deal with.

Eventually, they managed to make their way through shopping for clothes. Naruko had been forced to buy clothes that weren't covered in orange, much to her disappointment. However, afterwards Shirou held up to his promise of cooking ramen for the three of them. Unfortunately for Kurenai however, Shirou was not one who would settle for anything less than perfection when it came to his cooking. Because of this, she was forced to deal with a impatient Naruko while Shirou made dinner.

"Hey Kurenai? You're a chunin, yeah?" Naruko asked her.

Kurenai nodded. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

"Then you gotta know some awesome Jutsu, right? You gotta teach me!" The excitable blonde said with a closed-eye smile, causing Kurenai to narrow her eyes at the girl, a harsh rebuttal on the tip of her tongue.

Shirou sighed from his position in the kitchen, knowing that he had to step in before things got worse. "Naruko, when you're asking someone for something, you should say 'please'. Otherwise they'll think you're being mean to them." He explained.

Shirou had figured out pretty quickly that Naruko's lack of social interaction had left some pretty serious gaps in basic information about conversations that most people would take for granted. He had also figured out between the two shopping trips that Kurenai was gaining a rather negative view on the poor girl, so he had taken it as his duty to ensure that Kurenai saw the good side of Naruko as much as possible, and that would only happen once Kurenai realized just how badly Naruko's life had been until now.

Naruko looked startled by that. She turned back to Kurenai and noticed that she was definitely not happy with her. "Oh! Sorry Kurenai, I didn't know I was being mean! I just thought… You know, you're super strong, and I'm gonna be Hokage someday, so I figured if you helped me out I'd be able to become Hokage faster!"

Kurenai let out a deep breath and shook her head. "I forgive you Naruko… Just please think before you talk in the future." Seeing Naruko frantically nodding her head up and down, Kurenai continued. "However, I cannot teach you any 'awesome Jutsu' as you so put it. I'm not an academy instructor, and as such it would be illegal for me to attempt to teach you any Chakra techniques."

"What?! Why?!" Naruko asked, clearly taken aback that only some people were allowed to teach her any awesome attacks.

"It's because, unless you are very, very careful, children under the age of ten could very easily permanently injure themselves unless they are attended to by someone who knows what to do if something goes wrong. Unfortunately, I do not have that knowledge, and as such it could hinder your future as a shinobi if I were to teach you any Chakra techniques too early." Kurenai explained.

Naruko pouted. She had obviously thought that having a trained ninja around would mean a kick-start to her own shinobi education, but now she was being told that that wasn't the case at all. She knew that she was going to be going to the shinobi academy at some point, but it was just so far away!

"Dinner's ready!" Shirou announced, bringing bowls filled with ramen noodles and broth to the table, instantly knocking Naruko out of her depressing thoughts.

Naruko immediately started devouring her food in a frankly disgustingly fast manner. Or at least, Kurenai looked disgusted. Shirou noted Naruko's eating habits, but didn't see anything truly wrong with it. After all, his surrogate sister Taiga would eat in a similar manner at most meals. Or at least she did after Kiritsugu died… And when Sakura wasn't there… Unless she was running late for work.

Regardless, he wasn't terribly fazed. Naruko eating quickly simply meant that he'd have to go grab seconds quicker than he thought he would. In response, Shirou slid his own bowl over to Naruko's place before going back into the kitchen to get more.

After the meal was over, Shirou was again busy in the kitchen washing the dishes that had been created from dinner… With only one minor issue.

"Shirou, you don't have to do the dishes! You already made dinner for us!" Kurenai said.

Shirou merely shook his head. "No, it's fine. Though, if you want to help me… Could you please put them away? I don't think I can get to some of the top shelves without standing on the counter."

"Please Shirou, I can do all of the cleaning up. You should get out of the kitchen." Kurenai continued to argue.

Shirou merely smiled at the chunin assigned to watch over him and Naruko, who was currently leaning against the counter next to Shirou.

"Thank you Ms. Yuhi, but I find that I actually enjoy cooking and cleaning. Perhaps I did them as chores before the fire…" He mused to himself.

Luckily, Kurenai seemed to buy his little… Well, it wasn't quite a lie, now was it? It was a half-lie at worst, really.

"Hey! That probably explains why you're so good at cooking, right? I mean, it was no Ichiraku's, but it was still AMAZING!" Naruko added.

While Shirou's pride as a chef took a hit from Naruko's words, he knew that Naruko had held the owners of the store in high regard, so it was entirely possible she was biased. Though, given the fact that Shirou had snuck vegetables into his ramen in an effort to make it healthier, he might have shot himself in the foot given the fact that Naruko hated just about anything that even resembled healthy food.

"That seems to be the case." Shirou responded, but not expanding any further, merely satisfying himself with the calming act of washing the dishes.

Eventually, once all of the dishes were cleaned, Naruko wanted to do something else.

"Come on Shirou! There's this awesome playground near here that I've got to show you!" Naruko said, tugging Shirou out the front door and down the staircase, with Kurenai following after the two young children soon after.

And so went the rest of that night. Naruko was thrilled to bits to finally be able to play with a friend. She could get him to push her on a swing, or even compete with him to swing higher! Or play tag! So many awesome things they could do together! It kinda sucked that the red-eyed lady had told them they only had an hour and a half before they had to go back inside, but they'd be able to play tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that! Shirou had promised that he'd stay with her, and Naruko had seen so far that Shirou wasn't like all the other kids. Sure, she had made some friends before on the playground, but for some reason, whenever she saw them after that they'd always avoided her… Which kinda hurt, but she was over it now. She was so over it!

However, all good things must come to an end, and once the time limit that Kurenai had given the two elapsed, they were forced to head home. Kurenai made sure that they got ready for bed, and once the two were asleep she hailed the ANBU on patrol and left to go report the day's proceedings to the Hokage.

While Kurenai had been informed that there would be no official ANBU protection for the two children, she had been privately told by the Hokage that one ANBU in particular was not assigned there officially. He was off the records, and if anyone asked he was there of his own volition. This ANBU was codenamed dog, and the Hokage himself had assured Kurenai that he would protect the two children with his life.

So, with Kurenai's mind put at ease by the ANBU's presence, she left for the Hokage tower with all due haste. Upon arrival, she was sent straight through to the Hokage's office. Upon entering the office itself, Kurenai was struck by the image the Hokage was giving off. Her entire life she had seen Hiruzen Sarutobi as a kindly grandfather for the village, one who always held an air of mystique, given his extensive knowledge of almost every shinobi art.

However, the tired old man that she saw before her was barely reminiscent of that proud figure that she had grown up to know. Never in all her life had Kurenai truly seen the third Hokage like this, and it shocked her system so badly that she momentarily forgot that she was here to give a report.

However, the Hokage had noticed her presence and merely sighed tiredly. "Hello chunin Yuhi." He greeted. "I assume you have a report for me?"

That shook Kurenai out of her shock. She quickly bowed to the Hokage. "Yes sir. I am here to give you a summary of my day guarding Ms. Uzumaki and Shirou."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at the reporting woman's differing ways of addressing both of the children, but motioned for her to proceed anyways.

"We spent the day getting groceries, then clothes as planned. However, I should make note that the grocery shopping was done completely by young Shirou, who also cooked dinner for the three of us."

The Hokage nodded. "Yes, apparently it is not uncommon for Amnesia victims to retain some of their skills that they possessed prior to memory loss. It's nothing unexpected. Please continue."

"Well, he is actually extremely skilled in the way of cooking, which is unusual considering his age. After the meal, we then went to a nearby park at Ms. Uzumaki's insistence. We stayed at the park until dusk and then I told the children that we had to go home. Immediately after making sure the children were asleep I came here as fast as I could." Kurenai finished.

"Good. Any other observations?"

Kurenai paused for a moment. "Well… While we were between locations, the citizens stayed away from our group, and many looked especially fearful of Ms. Uzumaki in particular."

The Hokage sighed. "Of course…" He muttered to himself. "I suppose it was inevitable. We've had two disasters associated with the Kyuubi within the last decade. Considering the fact that the fire caused people to question how secure our seal on the beast is… I can't imagine those views changing anytime soon unfortunately."

He rubbed his forehead tiredly, before he reached under his desk to grab his personal pipe. The Hokage quickly put the pipe in his mouth and lit it with a tiny application of Katon, much to Kurenai's displeasure.

"And the children? Tell me Ms. Yuhi, what are your observations on them?"

"Shirou is extremely mature for his age. Honestly if it wasn't for the fact that he looked so young, I would guess him to already be an adult. Ms. Uzumaki on the other hand…" Kurenai sighed. "I will start this by saying that I hold the same fear that the rest of the village does about the young girl. I am personally having a hard time seeing her as anything but a live bomb about to explode."

The Hokage sighed. "That is an issue. If you find that you cannot change this outlook in a week, please inform me and I will assign someone else to your post."

Honestly, Kurenai would probably be much happier if she was changed off of permanent babysitting duty. Don't get her wrong, she loved kids, but she didn't want to essentially become a mother just yet.

"Regardless, Ms. Uzumaki is the complete opposite of Shirou. Her social development has obviously been stunted, and she comes across as extremely rude and impulsive. I believe it will only be a matter of time before we start arguing with each other."

Hiruzen merely stayed silent for a few moments. "Very well. Like I said previously, please inform me at the end of the week if you wish to be reassigned. You will no longer be required to give daily reports, but I will expect another report at the end of this week. You are dismissed."

Kurenai bowed again to the Hokage and took off towards her temporary apartment. However, as she was about to enter said apartment, she noticed that a light was on in the young children's apartment. Sighing, Kurenai fumbled through her pouch for her key to that apartment, and opened the door, ready to reprimand Naruko for inevitably staying up too late.

However, upon entering the apartment, Kurenai was surprised to find Shirou staring out the living room windows, staring up at the sky.

Kurenai approached Shirou and put a hand on his shoulder, startling the redheaded boy. He quickly turned around, and Kurenai couldn't quite bring it to herself to scold him.

She was almost tempted to stay in her current position just because of the pity that she felt for Shirou. The young boy had likely had a caring family, and given his maturity would likely have a great life ahead of him, but the fire had taken it all away.

"Shirou. You are supposed to be asleep." Kurenai said warningly.

Shirou gave the woman a sheepish smile. "Sorry Ms. Yuhi, I just wanted to look at the stars… Unfortunately we don't have a balcony so I had to make do with this."

Kurenai sighed. "If I agree to watch the stars with you for half an hour, will you agree to go to sleep afterwards?"

Shirou nodded. "Yes, thank you. I'm sorry for keeping you awake, but I enjoy staring at the stars."

"Alright then. One moment." Kurenai said, quickly opening the window and walking out.

Shirou's eyes widened the moment that Kurenai pulled him out the window with her, only to see that Kurenai was somehow sticking to the sides of the apartment building. She quickly hopped to the roof of the building, setting Shirou down before sitting right next to him.

"Was that a Jutsu Ms. Yuhi?" Shirou asked.

Kurenai shook her head. "No, that wasn't a Jutsu. What you just saw me do was a basic surface climbing technique, which only requires Chakra control. If you join the shinobi forces one day, it'll be one of the first things you learn."

Shirou merely nodded, before staring up at the stars. The two of them stayed like that for some time in perfect silence, and Kurenai had to admit that it was incredibly relaxing.

 _I might have to do this more regularly once I get re-assigned._ Kurenai thought to herself.

However, a few moments later Shirou decided to break the silence. "Ms. Yuhi… Why was everyone afraid of us today?"

Kurenai sighed. _Of course he noticed… Why wouldn't he?_

She tried to deflect the question. "No real reason, Shirou. Don't pay them any attention."

However, Shirou was obviously not taking that for an answer. "Is it because of Naruko? Is that why you don't like her?"

Kurenai froze. She didn't know what to say. Shirou had somehow noticed that she was uncomfortable around Naruko, even though she was trying very hard to not make her discomfort obvious.

However, she now knew that her silence would be taken for an answer. She had to salvage this situation.

"I-I don't… Dislike Ms. Uzumaki. Granted, I believe that she could use some work, but I don't dislike her." She said.

Shirou merely stared at his 'babysitter' for a few more moments before muttering "I see…" And then staring at the stars again.

They stayed silent from then on until the half an hour had elapsed. The comfortable silence that Kurenai had enjoyed had become more awkward for the chunin, but Shirou seemed content to merely stare at the stars. Once it was time to go down, Shirou got up without a word and allowed Kurenai to take him down to the window.

Once Kurenai opened the door to leave, Shirou decided to speak up.

"I know that you're afraid of Naruko, Ms Yuhi." He started.

Kurenai's heart froze for a second, before she turned around to look at a face that she thought would be judging her for being scared of a small child. To her surprise, she was treated to the sight of Shirou giving a brilliant smile.

"I know that the villagers are also afraid of Naruko… And that's too bad. But when I found Naruko in that fire, I realized something. Something important to me." His eyes seemed to focus on some far-off scene, and were obviously no longer looking at Kurenai.

"I realized what I want to do with my life. Saving Naruko… I felt like I had been saved. Like me surviving that fire had been worth it. So that's what I want to do. I want to save people. I want to save everyone, so that no one has to go through what I did."

His gaze finally focused on the chunin in the doorway. "And that includes you and the rest of the village. I'm going to save all of you from the mistake you're making, because Naruko is a great person… And not getting to learn that because you're all afraid is a fate that I will prevent."

And with that, Shirou turned around and went into his room to fall asleep, passing by his roommate's door as he did so, never hearing her quiet sobs of happiness after having eavesdropped on the speech he'd given Kurenai.

The red-eyed woman in question was standing in the doorway, staring dumbfounded at the hallway that Shirou had walked down before slowly leaving the apartment and silently walked into her own. When she eventually reached her bed, she found that she had a hard time doing anything other than staring at the ceiling while contemplating Shirou's words.

When she had to deliver her report for that week, she did not request to be reassigned.

 **A/N:**

 **Sooooo… First thing's first, the deadline is in a month and a half… And I'm expecting this to be a fifteen chapter story.**

 **Yikes.**

 **I'm gonna be kicking my writing into overdrive. Expect a lot of chapters over the next few weeks, as I will be doing my best to try and finish this story before the deadline.**

 **A few things of note! I am not very familiar with Japanese culture or language, so I'm not using suffixes like -san, so I have to improvise. Also, I realized that I used the word Jutsu instead of technique (which sounds a bit awkward to me now but whatever). Because of that, I'm going to be sticking to Japanese names when it comes to techniques within the story.**

 **Also, I probably should have said this in the first chapter, but I've never watched the Naruto anime. I have however read the manga and read a lot of fanfiction. Because of that, anime-specific arcs such as the land of snow arc will not be included in this fanfiction. (Though I probably don't need to specify that considering the fact that I'm only really writing a few key plot points and a bit of in-between).**

 **I'm a bit unsure about this chapter though honestly. I feel like things might have been a bit rushed… But that's probably going to be a common occurrence, given the length that I'm aiming for for this story.**

 **Alright… I'm pretty sure I missed a few things, but that's the stuff that I remember right now. Onto reviews!**

 **mx2432: Good catch, when I wrote that I couldn't quite remember how long it was between the Holy Grail War and arriving at the Clock Tower. I'll make sure to fix that. Also yes, he has kept UBW… But you'll have to wait to see it. (But it'll be worth it)**

 **DannyPhantom619: Great to hear that the timeline isn't too big of a deal, that takes a load off my back! But seriously, I'll try to keep to the timeline as accurately as possible, but I don't have every event memorized.**

 **Guest (The one who referred to Rin): Huh. That thought never really occurred to me. I've unfortunately yet to read the Visual Novel, so details like that are lost to me. It makes sense, but at this point I don't think I'll be changing that in the first chapter, just because of how strapped for time I am as well as how little that distinction will affect the story. Like I said in the first chapter, Rin won't really be in this story.**

 **Guest (The one who mentioned the fire): While I will admit that the fire caused by Angra Mainyu was likely far more malicious, I would also argue that Kurama's influence on this fire would have a similar effect. Considering how Kurama occasionally refers to himself as 'hatred incarnate' I believed that the sheer malice that Kurama would give off after being released into the fire would remind Shirou of the fire that 'birthed' him.**

 **Vossoch: Yeah, unfortunately real life kind of kicked my ass there for a while, but luckily my college gives a four week vacation for the holidays, so expect a lot of updates! … Hopefully.**

 **Reversus12: Ah, yes. This topic. From what I understand, this is actually debated pretty harshly amongst the Fate community. On the one hand, it would make sense given Shirou's ideal of 'save everyone' that he would never kill another person. However, Shirou has shown that he is totally okay with killing others in the Fate universe (Gilgamesh, Archer, Suzuki). Because of that, I can determine that Shirou would obviously prefer to save everyone, but is aware that some people are too dangerous to be kept alive. That is the version of Shirou's thought process that I will be using for this story. Sorry if if makes anyone not want to read, but it's what makes sense to me.**

 **To everyone else who commented: While I'm not responding to everyone (because that would artificially lengthen my story's word count, which is an actual factor in the contest that I'm in) I want to thank you all for your support of this story.**


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